Chiefs’ Johnson savors gold
Caught up with gold medal winner Tyler Johnson, a couple of hours of Team USA beat Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championship.
The unedited story I filed for Thursday's paper is below.
A roundup of World Junior stories: Calgary Sun game story; column, review and Jordan Eberle sidebar; Saskatoon Star-Phoenix game story and sidebar on heart-broken Team Canada; Regina Leader-Post story and Greg Harder's blog; and Alan Caldwelll's blog about some Canadian players not faring well against tough competition and a post-mortem that includes how Spokane's Jared Cowen was used.
A couple of quick notes: after the Chiefs play at home Friday and Saturday they play eight games on the road because of the U.S. Figure Skating championships. That's nothing compared to the Vanvouver Giants, who have had to vacate their premises for the Olympics. In all they play 27 games away from home, include six that are in a different Vancouver arena. ... The WHL trade deadline is Sunday at 2 p.m. They was a deal today, Seattle sending 17 year defenseman Ryan Aasman to Prince Albert for RW Jonathan Parker, 18, and a 2010 fifth-round bantam pick.
By Dave Trimmer
davet@spokesman.com; (509) 927-2154
Basking in the glow of gold, Tyler Johnson fielded a tougher
question than any other member of Team
It was the kind of question the Spokane Chiefs’ forward and
Johnson was asked time after time, what was better, a gold medal or Memorial Cup ring.
“I’ve had so many people ask me about that to be honest,” he said
in a telephone interview from
“TheWorld Juniors is very special, playing for your country, winning gold for them. It’s only the second time the U.S. won World gold. It’s pretty cool.”
Think about it.
The Memorial Cup, called the hardest championship to earn, came
with his hometown team in 2008 vs. a gold medal with a
“They’re both pretty amazing,” Johnson said after considering the accomplishments. “I feel the same way I did after the Mem Cup. I’m always going to remember this.”
All in all it was an amazing tournament for Johnson, who was on last year’s fifth-place team.
Although 15 of his teammates have been drafted by National Hockey League teams, the undrafted Johnson was honored by his coach as one of the team’s three stars of the tournament.
“Being recognized as one of the three on the entire team with the type of team we have is pretty special,” he said. “I have to thank my team for that. It’s hard not to play well when you’re playing with good players like that.”
The tournament didn’t start well for Johnson when he was ejected
just seconds into the first game and didn’t end on a personal high note when he
was injured in the first period against
“I thought I did very well,” he said. “That first game was kind of a weird game for me since I got 20 seconds and got kicked out for something I didn’t do. I think I responded very well.”
Twice after that he was selected as Team USA Player of the Game, including
the pool play shoot-out loss to Team
His injury came on a partial breakaway early in the gold medal game, when he went down and crashed awkwardly into the boards.
“It’s one of the worst injuries I’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s so embarrassing to say.”
Embarrassing why?
“My butt muscle was cramping up, I couldn’t put any pressure on it,” he said. “I tried going back out three or four different times but my leg, after taking four or five strides, was shot. I didn’t think I could help the team by not going fast.”
Team speed was vital for the Americans against a skilled opponent that featured 21 NHL draft picks, including 10 first rounds like Spokane Chiefs captain Jared Cowen.
The injury makes Johnson questionable for the Chiefs, who face three
games in three nights. They are home against
“They told me it’s going to bruise up pretty bad,” Johnson said. “They said I’d be pretty stiff and sore.”
But Tuesday late Tuesday night he was feeling golden.